Verses 29-34
Having Described His People As Having Deceived Minds And Stiff Necks YHWH Now Calls On Them To Mourn Over Their Rejection By Him Because Of Their Doings, And Illustrates In Detail How Far They Have Gone From Him, Whilst Warning Again Of The Consequences (Jeremiah 7:29 to Jeremiah 8:3 ).
YHWH now turns from the question of their general disobedience and idolatry, to their particular disobedience in reference to their especially evil behaviour with regard to idols in that they have set up their abominations in the House of YHWH, and have done even worse (if that were possible) in the Valley of Topheth where they have offered their children as sacrifices to idols, something which He had not commanded and had not (and would not have) even remotely considered. He calls on them to lament because, as a result, He was going to make the Valley of Topheth a place of slaughter and death in that it would become a place for burying huge numbers of dead and a place where the bones of kings and princes, priests and prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, would be exposed before the sun, moon and stars that they had worshipped, as though they were criminals, whilst those evil people who survived the massacre and went into exile would seek death rather than life.
“Cut off your hair (O daughter of Zion) and cast it away,
And take up a lamentation on the bare heights,
For YHWH has rejected and forsaken,
The generation of his wrath.”
The command to ‘cut off’ is in the feminine, suggesting that here the call is to ‘the daughter of Zion’ (Jeremiah 6:23), that is, the inhabitants of Jerusalem. YHWH calls on her to mourn and lament by cutting off her hair (her ‘crown’ - nzr - compare Numbers 6:0 where it indicates consecration) and casting it away. This may signify that she is to do this because she has already cast away her glory (her crown) or that, having been rejected by YHWH, she is to cast off the sign of her consecration to Him, in the same way as a Nazarite cut off his hair and cast it away when he had broken his vow. Either way it is a way of signifying great loss.
And she is to take up her lamentation on the ‘bare heights’, the very place where they had offered incense at their high places (Jeremiah 3:2). In other words instead of indulging in their riotous sex-ridden festivals they were to humiliate themselves and mourn and weep (compare Job 1:20), because rather than facing blessing their future was dismal. And this was because YHWH had rejected and forsaken them, as a result of the fact that they were the generation at which His wrath was directed. ‘The generation of His wrath’ probably signifies the generation on which YHWH had decided the punishment must fall for all the failures of the past which had aroused His wrath, because they had now reached the point of no return.
“For the children of Judah have done what is evil in my sight, the word of YHWH, they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.”
The fault of the children of Judah was depicted as threefold:
· Firstly they had done evil in His sight, including their worship of the Queen of Heaven, something confirmed by the infallible word of YHWH.
· Secondly they had set their abominations (Asherah images/poles; etc.) in the very house that was called by His Name, an act of great blasphemy.
· Thirdly they had built high places in Topheth in order to offer their children as sacrifices to the gods, thus committing mass murder and sacrilege.
The three activities together indicated a totality of evil.
‘They have done evil in His sight.’ They had turned after other gods, they had worshipped Baal on the high hills, they had worshipped the Queen of Heaven in their houses, and they had regularly broken the covenant by their ways, and it had all been done in front of His very eyes. ‘For all things are open to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do’ (Hebrews 4:13).
‘They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My Name.’ They had even gone so far as to set up abominations in His house, the house that bore the very Name of YHWH. It is clear from this that (unless it is simply referring to their past history, which is not likely as otherwise the fact that it was ion the past might have been commended) they had images or pagan pillars or pagan altars in the Temple itself, which suggests that this was written in the time of Jehoiakim (or Zedekiah) because Josiah had previously cleared the Temple of such things in the twelfth year of his reign (2 Chronicles 34:4) prior to Jeremiah’s call. This was thus a new act, causing gross offence to YHWH, and demonstrating that they had failed to learn the lessons of the past, but were instead repeating them.
“And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.”
But even worse they had built the high places of Topheth. ‘Topheth’ may mean ‘the hearth’ (tephath with the vowels altered to the vowels of bosheth = shame) indicating that it was a place of burning. The high places were erected there for the purpose of offering their children as human sacrifices ‘in the fire’. This was against all that YHWH had taught. It was ‘beyond His imagination’. He had of course once called Abraham to sacrifice his son, but only so that He could teach the lesson that such sacrifice was not required (Genesis 22:0).
Topheth was in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, an ancient valley known by that name in the time of Joshua (Joshua 15:8; Joshua 18:16), probably after its owner. This valley was also used for the burning of refuse, something which eventually made it a symbol of God’s fiery judgment (Gehenna = ge hinnom = the valley of Hinnom). To look over the walls of Jerusalem at night at the refuse fires continually burning far below in the valley must have been an awesome sight and readily recalled God’s fiery judgment.
Elsewhere Jeremiah linked these sacrifices with the worship of Baal (‘lord’), see Jeremiah 19:5, although in most of the Old Testament they are connected with the fierce Ammonite god named Molech (melech = king, altered to take the vowels of bosheth = shame) who was worshipped throughout the area (e.g. 2 Kings 23:10). This suggests a certain syncretism between the two gods, which may well have taken place because Molech was called ‘Lord Melech’ = Baal Melech = ‘Lord King’.
“Therefore, behold, the days come, the word of YHWH, that it will no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter, for they will bury in Topheth, until there is no place left for burying.”
Because of these evil sacrifices which took place there the name of the valley would in the future be changed to ‘the valley of Slaughter’. This would be because it would be used as a convenient burial ground, but so great would be the numbers to be buried there as a result of the coming invasion that it would be filled up with graves so much so that there would be no room for any more. It was certainly fitting that those who sacrificed their own children there in such a terrible manner should find themselves buried, or even left unburied, in the place where they had done it.
“And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away.”
But worse. Many alive at that time would be slain without there being room to bury them, with the result that their dead bodies would be flung on the ground and left for the vultures, and for scavenging beasts like the jackal. Such exposure was usually the fate of criminals and was looked on as the ultimate disgrace. And because the living would all be in exile there would be no one left to scare such scavengers away (contrast 2 Samuel 21:10). This would be a literal fulfilment of the curse in Deuteronomy 28:26, (which should be consulted).
“Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land will become a waste.”
At that time YHWH would remove all joy from the people. The voice of mirth and gladness, and the voice of the bride and bridegroom, would be heard no more in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, because the whole land would have been laid waste. Bride and bridegroom were especially mentioned because they were seen as representing the pinnacle of human happiness. But even they would have no cause for rejoicing. It was also at weddings that men knew the highest level of merriment, when the wine flowed freely, even for the poor. But there would be none now, for there would be nothing to celebrate. It may also be as an indication that life had come completely to a halt. Marriage would simply become a reminder of what had been.
“At that time, the word of YHWH, they will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves,”
Furthermore at that time the bones of those who had brought all these problems on Judah, the kings, the princes, the priests, the prophets, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem would be brought out of their graves and spread over the valley in order to desecrate them. The dishonouring of the dead in this way was a common practise in the Ancient Near East, although nor usually in such numbers. While we are not told anywhere that Nebuchadnezzar actually did this, it was, however, certainly compatible with someone who could kill a man’s sons before his eyes before blinding him permanently, as he did with Zedekiah (2 Kings 25:7). Indeed, as we learn in Daniel, he was mentally ill (Daniel 4:33) something which, despite superficial appearances, would not be something that just came and went. He had probably suffered from it in a milder form for many years, and was quite possibly a manic depressive (there are many traces of such an illness in his actions).
While the looting of grave treasures may have been part of the reason for the opening of graves, the widespread nature of what would happen indicates that that was not to be seen as the main reason. The main reason was probably so that the nations would see what happened to persistent rebels and would fear. Charles II of England inexcusably did the same thing to his enemies. Such evil was not limited to ancient Babylon. Compare also 2 Samuel 21:10, something which was the responsibility of revengeful Gibeonites.
“And they will spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and which they have worshipped. They will not be gathered, nor be buried, they will be for dung on the face of the earth.”
The irony of the situation would be such that these people who had encouraged the worship of the sun, moon and stars, and had shown such devotion towards them, would themselves have their bones spread out before them, and would ‘discover’ that they could do nothing to help them. They had loved them and served them, and walked after them and sought them, and worshipped them. Now they would be shamed before them, while the sun, moon and stars shone blandly down on them, unable to offer any assistance. Nor would anyone gather up their bones. They would be left to lie there until they became so much compost to renew the soil.
“And death will be chosen rather than life by all the residue who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them, the word of YHWH of hosts.”
And the case would not be any better for those who survived. Any who survived the slaughter would be driven into exile in one way or another (into Egypt and Babylon), and many would then prefer death to life because of the misery of their situation (compare the vivid language in Deuteronomy 28:64-67). Life would be seen as worse than death. And all this would be in accordance with the sure word of YHWH of hosts.
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